*Article* **Fabrication, Characterization, and Antioxidant Potential of Sodium Alginate/Acacia Gum Hydrogel-Based Films Loaded with Cinnamon Essential Oil**

**Saurabh Bhatia 1,2,3,\* ,†, Ahmed Al-Harrasi 1,\* ,† , Yasir Abbas Shah 1,†, Halima Waleed Khalifa Altoubi <sup>1</sup> , Sabna Kotta 4,5 , Priyanka Sharma <sup>6</sup> , Md. Khalid Anwer <sup>7</sup> , Deepa Sreekanth Kaithavalappil <sup>8</sup> , Esra Koca <sup>9</sup> and Levent Yurdaer Aydemir <sup>9</sup>**


**Abstract:** Several studies have reported the advantages of incorporating essential oils in hydrogelbased films for improving their physiochemical and antioxidant attributes. Cinnamon essential oil (CEO) has great potential in industrial and medicinal applications as an antimicrobial and antioxidant agent. The present study aimed to develop sodium alginate (SA) and acacia gum (AG) hydrogel-based films loaded with CEO. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and texture analysis (TA) were performed to analyze the structural, crystalline, chemical, thermal, and mechanical behaviour of the edible films that were loaded with CEO. Moreover, the transparency, thickness, barrier, thermal, and color parameters of the prepared hydrogel-based films loaded with CEO were also assessed. The study revealed that as the concentration of oil in the films was raised, the thickness and elongation at break (EAB) increased, while transparency, tensile strength (TS), water vapor permeability (WVP), and moisture content (MC) decreased. As the concentration of CEO increased, the hydrogel-based films demonstrated a significant improvement in their antioxidant properties. Incorporating CEO into the SA–AG composite edible films presents a promising strategy for producing hydrogel-based films with the potential to serve as food packaging materials.

**Keywords:** sodium alginate; hydrogel polymer; acacia gum; cinnamon essential oil; edible hydrogelbased films; food packaging
